No need to exaggerate – life is strange enough as is.

Orchard Road.

It’s a sort of hobby, I suppose, to go about looking for new places to shop in. There have been ginormous shopping centers built for this purpose, and there are districts in every major city we’ve ever been to which serve to sate the shopping bug. Singapore is no different, they have the same – Orchard Road.

If one lives/visits SE Asia – this is IT. this is their Miracle Mile, their 5th Avenue, their Rodeo Drive, their Via Del Corso.

Except….

It’s the biggest damned high end shopping district I’ve ever seen.

Every major high end department store and every, I mean every major designer line is represented here.

In what is very Asian, many of the high end lines like Gucci will have not just a store, but several stores along Orchard Road.

So imagine stringing 3 or four of some of the world’s largest shopping districts together – that’s Orchard Road.

Why is this, you ask?

Easy.

There is money in Singapore – a lot of money. ti’s $50,000 for the license to drive this car, $175,000 for the car, and another about $200,000 in taxes. All told, it’s over $400K to roll on the streets of this island nation in these wheels. Normally I don’t point out these sort of things, but Lamborghinis in Singapore were unusual…in their commonality.

This is a place whick reeks of the color of money.

Airplane racing is a rich man’s sport, like polo.

To be honest with you, it’s not something the Pheebs and I have much of a desire to aspire to – or spend time window shopping in. Besides – there were just too darned many people who wished to do just that.

I’m not a big crowd person – and a bunch of people staring wistfully as stuff they neither needed nor could afford seemed an excercise in futility. There’s so much more to see and do in Singapore than to shop in stores which may be had in any major city around the world these days. To note the quantity and density on this small island nation is enough, as it serves to illustrate Singapore must be doing something right to attract and retain this traffic.

We leave you with a shot which made us think of our friends back in Key West. The irony of such a shot in a town which does not tolerate homosexuality was not lost on the two of us. This one’s for the boys.